Vikarabad DTO held for contract killing

HYDERABAD: Suryapet district police on Friday arrested B Bhadru Nayak, District Transport Officer (DTO) of Vikarabad district and a seven-member gang in connection with the contract killing of a 21-year-old, Sampangi Praveen. 

Praveen was the member of a gang that was hired to kill Bhadru Nayak’s elder brother Veeru Nayak, as the duo had differences over sharing property. Bhadru Nayak offered to pay Rs 1 crore cash and one acre for killing his brother.

SP Suryapet S Rajendra Prasad said Bhadru Nayak hired his wife’s relative L Harish Nayak to eliminate Veeru Nayak, as the latter had been demanding a share in the property and also threatened Bhadru Nayak of complaining to the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB). Harish hired six more people including Praveen to kill Veeru Nayak. 

However, Veeru Nayak escaped a couple of attempts, due to which Harish suspected that Praveen was leaking murder plans to Veeru Nayak. “A furious Bhadru Nayak then instructed Harish to first kill Praveen and then go for Veeru Nayak. He had so far paid Rs 10 lakh to Harish for killing Veeru Nayak,” the SP said.

The contract murder conspiracy came to light, after Praveen was killed. Praveen went missing from home on July 13. His body was found in Timmapur and the case was altered to one of murder. Based on clues, police picked up Harish and six others. On inquiry, the gang admitted to having killed Praveen and also confessed that they did so on Bhadru Nayak’s instructions.

Inquiries revealed that Bhadru and Veeru Nayak were into the granite business. They also purchased 120 acres of agricultural land in their native village in Suryapet, 12 acres of land in another village, a granite quarry spread over two hectares in three different locations, flats and open plots in different parts of the city. Used GPay to fund murder After killing Praveen, Bhadru Nayak sent Rs 20,000 to Harish through his son’s GPay account.